concern for remaining goldfish

V

vicki230685

Registered Member
Apr 8, 2008
1
0
0
Sorry for the lengthly post guys but i'm hoping to find some answers. I just bought 4 lovely goldfish about 2 months ago. I also bought a brand new tank for them (55 gal) filter and everything intact.
I cleaned the tank out regularly (last time being 4 days ago)
I've had goldfish the majority of my life so i'm familiar with the cleaning routine etc. (last goldfish stayed with me for nearly 4 years!)

So anyway, last night i noticed 3 out of my four goldfish acting very strangely indeed. Three of them were swimming very fast and basically swimming straight into the sides of the tank (at quite a force - i could hear the bangs of them hitting the tank sides from the kitchen) I kept my eye on them, and the 3 kept on doing this for a good hour!! When they stopped they were basically lying on the gravel at the bottom of the tank, they were still breathing but were just all dopey looking. Then they would take a lease of life and continue swimming around irratically and banging forcefully off the sides of the tank again!
My 4th fish wasnt doing this, he was just swimming around as normal. This went on for another half an hour and then just as quick as it started - they were acting normal again!!
I went to bed then, but when i came through this morning, the fish that were acting strangly were all dead. I removed the fish and desposed of them.
I was very upset by this, as far as i know i've done nothing wrong. As i said i did a routine clean out 4 days ago - and they were all acting fine untill last night!!
My remaining fish seems fine, hes been put back into his tank (after i cleaned it all out after removing poor dead fish)
I'm just wondering what could of caused 3 out of 4 fish to act so crazy?? I've never heard anything like it!! The deffinately were not acting ill/strangely before last night! Then for them to all have died this morning!!!
Have i a right to be concerned about my remaining fish?
Any answers would be greatly appriciated,
many thanks!
 
vicki230685 said:
Sorry for the lengthly post guys but i'm hoping to find some answers. I just bought 4 lovely goldfish about 2 months ago. What kind of goldfish?I also bought a brand new tank for them (55 gal) filter What kind of filter?and everything intact.
I cleaned the tank out regularly (last time being 4 days ago)
I've had goldfish the majority of my life so i'm familiar with the cleaning routine etc. (last goldfish stayed with me for nearly 4 years!)
When you say you cleaned it out, do you mean you did a water change? Or did you take everything out, rinse gravel and decor, clean filters, and then set it all up again? How long had it been since the last cleaning? How long do your goldfish usually live?

So anyway, last night i noticed 3 out of my four goldfish acting very strangely indeed. Three of them were swimming very fast and basically swimming straight into the sides of the tank (at quite a force - i could hear the bangs of them hitting the tank sides from the kitchen) I kept my eye on them, and the 3 kept on doing this for a good hour!! When they stopped they were basically lying on the gravel at the bottom of the tank, they were still breathing but were just all dopey looking. Then they would take a lease of life and continue swimming around irratically and banging forcefully off the sides of the tank again!Did you test the water for ammonia, nitrite, and/or nitrate? What about pH? Do you have a heater in the tank?
My 4th fish wasnt doing this, he was just swimming around as normal. This went on for another half an hour and then just as quick as it started - they were acting normal again!!
I went to bed then, but when i came through this morning, the fish that were acting strangly were all dead. I removed the fish and desposed of them.
I was very upset by this, as far as i know i've done nothing wrong. As i said i did a routine clean out 4 days ago - and they were all acting fine untill last night!! Do you live alone? Did you or anyone else use any kind of cleaning products or sprays? Do you keep the windows open? Is your city doing any kind of spraying at this time? Did you remember to use a dechlorinating product after cleaning the tank? Did you use any chemicals when you cleaned the tank?
My remaining fish seems fine, hes been put back into his tank (after i cleaned it all out after removing poor dead fish)
I'm just wondering what could of caused 3 out of 4 fish to act so crazy?? I've never heard anything like it!! The deffinately were not acting ill/strangely before last night! Then for them to all have died this morning!!!
Have i a right to be concerned about my remaining fish?
Any answers would be greatly appriciated,
many thanks!
Click to expand...

My questions in green
 
Defnitely answer the questions wata asked above...

Then I will have to ask:

Did you cycle the tank? If so, how?
How often do you change the water in the tank and how much %?
What is a "routine cleaning" for you?
What are you feeding? How often?
What are EXACT ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH readings?
 
I don't know much about the other varieties, but commons live for much longer than four years. Strange, you seem to have the tank size down, I think(depending on the variety). I think a better question is "what temperature was the tank". What was the pH, ammonia level, nitrates, trites, etc.
 
Sounds like some kind of poisoning that has gotten into the water column. I don't think I would of watched this go on for an hour and do nothing. I would of been testing the water right away and more likely doing a water change just to be on the safe side. If the fish were banging into the sides of the tank with the force that you said they had, it is no wonder they are dead this morning. More then likely they had internal injuries. I would keep an eye on the remaining goldfish and do a watter change ASAP if you haven't already.

Is it possible that some kind of cleaning solvent got into the wate?. That would cause this kind of behavior in your fish since that would indicate some kind of poisoning.

Marinemom
 
i don't think the tank was cycled correctly and goldfish are very delicate fish
 
usually goldfish are far from delicate but i'll agree with everybody else, i don't think the tank is cycled. btw, goldfish have a lot longer life span than 4yrs, over 30 is possible, the record was set by a lady in england who had hers for 43yrs.
 
It can be two different things.

Toxins - did you add anything different to the decor, cleaning agents, fumes from paint/varnish/glue etc?

Whirling Disease - cuased by Myxobolus cerebralis

It is more likely caused by toxins.

BTW a 4 year old goldfish is still growing and young.
 
What do you mean by "clean out", also? And what is regularly? FYI, it's usually better to have more than one filter on a goldfish tank, they are so messy.

Just so you know I'm not just talking I kept goldfish in a pond for 10 years before a raccoon decided to eat them (We had a cover over the pond and raccoons aren't even indigenous to our area, I'm still angry about it). They had to go through heat waves, since I never could afford a chiller(If I could undo this, I would in an instant. My future goldfish will have a nice, temperature controlled home) but the 7.5 PH, 60 gal pond and pond filter kept them happy. They also got a variety of food which wandered in unwittingly, supplemented with Tetra goldfish pond food.

So yeah. I don't want to sound mean or critical.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom